The present invention relates to a construction of a battery compartment and, more particularly, to a construction of a battery compartment in a thin device such as a memory card which requires battery exchange.
Memory cards, thin type radio sets and the like are in general very thin in thickness of the order of less than 3 mm. Therefore, in these thin card-type-devices, battery compartments having the constructions as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 have been generally used in order to make it easy to exchange a battery such as a coin-shaped lithium battery CR2016 or the like.
More particularly, in the case of the battery compartment as shown in FIG. 1, a battery insertion opening 1a is extended through one side wall of main body 1 of a memory card or the like substantially perpendicular to the side wall. A cover 2 having a battery 3 clamped at the leading end therof is inserted into the opening 1a and is securely attached to the main body 1 under the elastic forces of clicks 2a protruding outwardly from both sides of the cover 2. Therefore, when the cover 2 is drawn from the opening 1a and inserted again into the opening 1a of the main body 1, an old battery can be replaced with a new battery without use of any special device.
In the case of the battery compartment of the type shown in FIG. 2, an opening 1b is formed through the upper or bottom wall 11 of a main body of a memory card or the like. A cover 2 which constitutes a part of the top or bottom wall is removed by loosening screw 4 to open the opening 1b to remove an old battery and then a new battery is inserted into the opening 1b. Thereafter the opening 1b is closed by the cover 2 and the cover 2 is securely held in position by tightening the screw 4.
However, in the case of the battery compartment of the type described above with reference to FIG. 1, the exchange of a discharged battery for a new battery is easy because no special tool or the like is needed to securely hold the cover 2 in position, but there is a problem that the cover 2 tends to be opened erroneously. In the case of a memory card, such an accident causes a fatal problem because of an electric power supply or the battery 3 is electrically disconnected from its associated electronic circuits or the like in the main body 1 so that the data stored in the memory card is lost. In addition, the cover 2 together with its click portions 2a is fabricated by molded plastic so that the elasticity of the clicks 2a becomes different from one cover to another because of the slight difference in shape or configuration between the covers so that the clicking forces of the clicks 2a become different from each other. Furthermore, there is a fear that the cover 2 may break because of the decrease in mechanical strength due to aging.
In the case of the battery compartment as shown in FIG. 2, the opening 1b is formed through the upper or bottom wall of the memory card or the like and a discharged battery is replaced with a new one through this opening 1b so that the withdrawal and insertion of the batteries can be easily carried out. However, the design of the main body of the device is considerably limited because of a poor outer appearance of the cover 2.